MAUMEE, Ohio — Uptown Maumee's Conant Street went from four lanes of traffic to three last year to make way for more parking — but, not everyone is pleased with the change.
"I hate the new traffic pattern. I watch accidents every day," Gina Pace, the manager of Spoiled, said.
It's been a little over a year since the city changed its traffic pattern, and Pace said the move didn't make the impact she thought it would.
"We thought maybe it would make more parking spots but people can't get in and out of their cars," Pace continued.
However, not everyone seems to be having the same issues. Nathan Warren is the co-owner of Brew House, a coffee shop on the other side of Conant Street. He said he's had a very different experience with the new pattern.
"It's brought a lot more foot traffic throughout Maumee, plus it's also opened up more parking on our side of the street," Warren said.
Maumee City Administrator Patrick Burtch said the changes weren't designed to make traffic flow faster at all.
"It was never intended to make traffic work faster. It was intended to do no harm. It's not in a shape where it has to work," Burtch said.
He explained that Maumee's focus is to make pedestrians feel more safe walking the streets and that much of what residents see now are only the first steps of a major overhaul for the city.
In an artist's rendering of a vastly updated Uptown Maumee, there were added curbs, an acre and a half of landscaping and additional lanes at the intersection of Conant Street and the Anthony Wayne Trail.
Burtch explained that he and his fellow members of the city government want to turn the uptown Maumee area into more of a lifestyle center.
While the current setup might be a little slower for drivers, he said it should result in a destination people will want to visit.
"I'm more about creating a place people want to be in, instead of a place people pass through," Burtch said.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring, with the goal to be completed by November of 2023.
Burtch said city leaders intend to add more apartments to the region, with the hope that foot traffic will eventually become a more common way for people to get around in the uptown area.